Top Searches:

Arts will live on through Koothu-P-Pattarai stage

Neeraja Ramesh and Ananya Radhakrishnan

| Oct 30, 2018, 00:29 IST

Chennai: The alternative Tamil theatre movement founded by N Muthuswamy, artistic director of Koothu-P-Pattarai (KPP), received a jolt with his death but it’s not the end of the world for actors like E Kumaravel, Kalai Rani, Pasupathy, Vimal, Vijay Sethupathy who believe his work will live on through his students. "He wouldn’t have wanted us to mourn, wouldn’t have wanted us to lie low and mostly he wouldn’t have wanted his art to die," says actor Kalai Rani who worked with him since the 1980s. Muthuswamy’s son Natesh will take forward his legacy. "We are planning to have more workshops, plays. Karna Prasad’s book of plays will help in teaching youngsters what a cult figure Muthuswamy was," says Kumaravel. The day after the 82-year-old thespian died on October 24, several actors gathered and recollected their theatre days and remembered the life lessons taught by him. "Perfection and originality were most important for him. He used to say that what makes a person complete is not money or fame, it is humanity and humility that counts," says Kumaravel.

Deeply philosophical, his plays made both the actors and audiences think. "The focus was to make an actor ready to play any role. His plays were not melodramatic like the usual dramas of the time. Living in the moment and empathizing with the audience was his motto. He wanted viewers to infer what the entire concept was about," says the ‘Azhagiya Theeye’ actor.

Joining KPP was a turning point, says Kalai Rani. "There was no looking back, though I moved to films, I got the perfect grounding. For a movie, it’s enough to have certain kind of body language but in plays every sense needs to be alert. Throwing your voice at the audience is of capital importance as there is no concept of dubbing," she says, adding that she would be teaching youngsters about KPP style. "Muthuswamy uncle had a method, he mixed modern and traditional ideas which was unique."

Muthuswamy took his students back to their cultural roots and opened their minds to fold art. "We were unaware about our culture. He taught us about it, how to look at our cultural heritage, what to do to preserve it," says Karuna Prasad, who has collected all his works into a book. Muthuswamy had written more than 1,200 pages that had not been published.

The perception that KPP produces actors for movies is a wrong notion; rather it is the film industry that is now recognizing the talent the theatre group produces is unparalleled. "Muthuswamy’s aim was not to create actors for cinema. His aim was to promote and preserve culture," says a student.

Working under financial constraints for years, the group, Prasad said, had been supported by well-wishers. "Once the group began participating in the Sangeet Natak Akademi festival, they started receiving some money with which they would put up colourful plays. Later Ford Foundation too came to fund KPP to help them preserve traditional folk art. When we were full time artists our salary was only `750. Only because of Muthuswamy’s work and passion, we went higher," adds Prasad.

Actor Nassar who wasn’t part of the organization but recognized and encouraged actors like Pasupathy, E Kumaravel recollected the time he attended a few KPP workshops. "I was closely associated with Muthuswamy sir much before I became a full-time actor. He was a good motivator. It was always nice to hear him speak about his views on folk art particularly therukoothu. Actors that are trained there are well balanced. They know how to tackle mainstream cinema as well as folk theatre." Nasser feels Tamil cinema still hasn’t identified the qualities of professional actors.

Actor Pasupathy said, "He was the strength of Tamil modern theatre. In his absence, that strength is gone. All of us (his students) have taken different paths but on the day that we lost Muthuswamy sir, we all thought we have to go back to theatre again. We are planning something. There’s a lot of young talent in KPP and they need to be supported."

All Comments ()+^ Back to Top

Characters Remaining: 3000

Continue without login

or

Login from existing account

FacebookGoogleEmail

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.